Aqua Droid - TCW [SOTDS] - Basic (CW46)

Aqua droids battle Obi-Wan Kenobi on Kamino. These underwater droids are part of a Separatist plan to destroy the facilities that supply the Republic with clone troopers. Their legs adjust for land or sea mode, becoming feet for ground missions or rotating into propulsion fins in the water. They have retracting heads to become streamlined for swimming underwater.

We all can relate to wanting a figure very badly. And we're sure most have experienced finally getting that wanted figure and it just didn’t seem like it was worth the wait. Well, some of this principle applies to the Aqua Droid unfortunately. It’s a character in The Clone Wars television series that we wanted the moment we saw them on the small screen. Well, they’re here and they are wonderfully designed as far as proportions and aesthetics are concerned, but lack in the execution in the key area of the knees which sustain most of its weight. And this nearly destroys the quality of the figure. Yup, you’ve guessed it. The Aqua Droid cannot sustain his weight well on the included swivel joint legs. A droid with a massive upper body and spindly legs, if Hasbro cancelled the knee articulation in this figure, most of us would be a lot happier to finally get it in our collections. When we say that not all figures need to be super-articulated (or extra-articulated) there is a reason. And the Aqua Droid sells our argument very well. This is a beautiful action figure whose effectiveness is diminished thanks to those overly loose knee joints. If you’re careful, you can get him to stand, but if you need to change the angle he’s standing or lift up an arm, well, you’re going to have to start from scratch because it will fall backwards or frontwards and drive you to insanity. And even if you get it to stand up, gravity will eventually win the battle. There may very well be varying degrees of how loose the joints are, but we have played with two samples and both are very loose. What makes it worse is the "thigh" section of the droid is rubbery and caves under the littlest bit of pressure of the droid. (Come on already, Hasbro!)

Aside from the aggravating articulation, the Aqua Droid is a beautiful action figure and we truly mean this. The back story of these droids is that they were designed to fight on both land and water and what better place for the Separatists to use them than on Kamino, a planet covered in it. Their right arm has been fitted with one retractable laser cannon which is very reminiscent of the design of a Super Battle Droid (whose left arm is fitted with one cannon too). Designed with water in mind, their feet can transform into propellers. Making a debut appearance in the fan favorite ARC Troopers episode, their role was quite similar to the aquatic aliens in Alien Resurrection (1997) and provided about the same intense drama as well. Hasbro did a fine job with the action figure despite its shortcomings and we are still happy to have the action figure nonetheless. The coloring looks dead to rights and the details in the deco like the baby blue accents really make the figure pop. The figure has a lot of articulation (24 total points is what we counted) and kids and collectors alike will have fun playing with him. This is a figure that will likely make its way into bathtubs and swimming pools and it appears to us that the action figure is ready for it. Hasbro incorporated many ball-jointed points of articulation on this figure, especially in the upper body, and found ways to mix swivel and pivot joints and make them interact seamlessly. They are also very well hidden on the sculpt. Oh, and the retractable head is the best part, a feature we initially missed.

While all of this articulation allows for optimal mobility, we found many of them to be a little stiff, almost to the point of being futile on the figure. This should definitely help keep the joints tight in the long run, but just be careful while trying them out. (But again, just forget about those knee joints. They won't be helping you at all.) We honestly thought that the figure was about to break when we tried to force moving some of the joints close to his midsection when photographing it for this review. The Aqua Droid is very tall and menacing. Think of a large metal humanoid crab with legs. If that doesn’t paint a vivid picture for you, then think of the same chasing you underwater with a large gun affixed to its arm. That should instill some sort of fright. You can tell the Aqua Droid has a bad attitude and we suspect he will be a popular addition to many kids' collections. This droid will be wanted by many and we can assure you of that. Hasbro has captured the presence and stature of the Aqua Droid very well. Its legs and arms are thin yet they look muscular thanks to the widened shape of the armor. And its long arms and shorter legs give the Aqua Droid a very unique appearance which really looks cool. It looks stocky with those proportions and overall tougher than a standard Battle Droid. But it's important to note that the Aqua Droid looks like no other action figure to date, especially in The Clone Wars line. Hasbro created an all-new sculpt that will definitely need some tweaking before they reissue it again. But for now, we have to give credit where credit is due and we are overall quite pleased. You'll now have to decide.